Vasilis Kostas — Léna (General Music, 2026) Vasilis Kostas is a master of the Greek lute known as the lauto (or laouto), and like any…
A Mother Lode of Laouto
Tag: Greek music
Revival of the Ancient Greek Kithara: How a 2,000-Year-Old Instrument Entered God of War
The sound of adventure video game God of War now includes an instrument that has not been heard for over 2,000 years. When Emmy Award-winning…
Songs Carried Across Salt Water: Memory, Exile, And The Quiet Force Of Displaced Dreams
Michalis Kouloumis — Displaced Dreams (Seyir Muzik, 2025) In Displaced Dreams, Michalis Kouloumis articulates exile as a lived, trembling presence. The album is a precious…
Greek Lyra Master Stelios Petrakis Presents Charming Album ‘Lyric’
Stelios Petrakis — Lyric (Buda, 2026) Cretan musician Stelios Petrakis presents his new album, Lyric. This is a timeless, masterfully crafted and exquisite chamber folk…
Vasilis Kostas Presents Contemporary And Traditional Music Of Epirus, Greece
(headline image: Vasilis Kostas – Photo by Yannis Psathas) Vasilis Kostas is set to perform at Roulette on Saturday, April 18, 2026. The lauto player…
Folk Dances, Fresh Ears: Topos Reimagines Bartók
Sokratis Sinopoulos and Yann Kirim – Topos (ECM, 2025) Lyra meets piano on Topos by Greek duo Sokratis Sinopoulos (lyra) and Yann Kirim (piano). This…
Dionysian Rites and Rhythmic Spells: The Voodoo Drummer Duo Casts a HELLaS of a Trance
The Voodoo Drummer Duo – HELLaS SPELLS (2025) At first glance, HELLaS SPELLS might appear to be an experiment born of whimsy, a cello, a…
Soundplaces Weaves a Bowed Dialogue Across the Aegean
Derya Türkan & Sokratis Sinopoulos – Soundplaces (Seyir Muzik, 2020) Soundplaces, the 2020 release by Derya Türkan and Sokratis Sinopoulos, offers a contemplative, transcultural conversation…
Lament of the Times: Xanthoula Dakovanou Weaves Mourning and Modernity in Lamenta
Xanthoula Dakovanou – Lamenta (Quart de Lune, 2021) Lamenta, the 2021 release from Greek vocalist and composer Xanthoula Dakovanou, is anchored in the miroloï tradition…
How Rembetika music unites the people of troubled Cyprus
(headline photo: Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay) Writer and musician John Phillpott travels to Cyprus and discovers a music that has played a crucial…